Vanity sizing….
The world has gone INSANE with vanity sizing.
Now I’ll admit, when I was 280lbs the thought of buying XXL clothing was not very comforting. In a way, the fact that I could buy XL shirts most the time and have them fit over my frame made me feel a little bit more normal. XL wasn’t really that much bigger than a large was it? I guess I was just a little overweight, not a whole whole bunch. That’s sort of how vanity sizing worked as a big guy. The clothes weren’t labeled that big really, so I thought I must be somewhat normal.
What buying new clothes really should have done was make me feel like an overweight slob, a freak of nature. If I had had to buy XXXL+ shirts and pants I might have gotten on the whole weight loss thing a lot sooner. "Elephant sized" under wear that could double as a car cover and was labeled as such might have been a wake up call. I can actually still remember the day I broke the size 40-waist barrier with my jeans and how much it bothered me.
Well, now that I’m "normal sized" I still have a real problem with the whole vanity-sizing thing. I mean, I’m 6’ and 195lbs and I’m a medium size most the time now? I’m a pretty damn big guy and I’m medium? I picked up a sport knee brace this morning, a large of course, because I’m 6’ and 195lbs and have pretty damn big legs. The thing just slid down my leg like a fireman down a pole. They should have labeled it, "Large-- meaning you are totally overweight and have knees the size of most people’s waists or no visible knees at all." Underwear, t-shirts, socks, workout clothes and sweaters… I’ve bought them all in medium more than once lately. It’s kind of cool to get something from overseas now, cause most the time I’m a large, and don’t feel like the incredible shrinking man like I do when buying North American clothes.
I would love to find a pair of 1985 Levi’s and compare them to today’s "same" model. I’m sure a pair of 501’s has got to be cut wider and looser these days. I can’t even imagine how a medium or large shirt from 50-60 years ago would compare today. Although I wasn’t thinking of it at the time, I’m sure I’ve heard older folks going through old clothes in the attic and saying, "Look how much this shirt has shrunk." Maybe it hadn’t shrunk, maybe it was only their perception because of how much size labeling has changed?
It’s no wonder so many North Americans (like 60%) are overweight. Instead of noticing that you don’t fit in a large T-shirt anymore, and that maybe you should slow down on the garbage, corporate America has simply made the T-shirt bigger so you can keep eating and most importantly CONSUMING and not thinking about your growing waist line.
If things keep going the way they are I’ll be wearing a size small before I’m dead and slightly smaller people at a healthy weight will be buying most of their clothes in the children’s section… On the other side, 350lbs men will be sporting "large" shirts, maybe some are now? What a joke.
I should add that I'm not a woman, and I've gotten a lot of email on this post from other sites I've posted it on saying it's quite the opposite with woman's clothing... I have no idea. I only get to live life as a guy.
Now I’ll admit, when I was 280lbs the thought of buying XXL clothing was not very comforting. In a way, the fact that I could buy XL shirts most the time and have them fit over my frame made me feel a little bit more normal. XL wasn’t really that much bigger than a large was it? I guess I was just a little overweight, not a whole whole bunch. That’s sort of how vanity sizing worked as a big guy. The clothes weren’t labeled that big really, so I thought I must be somewhat normal.
What buying new clothes really should have done was make me feel like an overweight slob, a freak of nature. If I had had to buy XXXL+ shirts and pants I might have gotten on the whole weight loss thing a lot sooner. "Elephant sized" under wear that could double as a car cover and was labeled as such might have been a wake up call. I can actually still remember the day I broke the size 40-waist barrier with my jeans and how much it bothered me.
Well, now that I’m "normal sized" I still have a real problem with the whole vanity-sizing thing. I mean, I’m 6’ and 195lbs and I’m a medium size most the time now? I’m a pretty damn big guy and I’m medium? I picked up a sport knee brace this morning, a large of course, because I’m 6’ and 195lbs and have pretty damn big legs. The thing just slid down my leg like a fireman down a pole. They should have labeled it, "Large-- meaning you are totally overweight and have knees the size of most people’s waists or no visible knees at all." Underwear, t-shirts, socks, workout clothes and sweaters… I’ve bought them all in medium more than once lately. It’s kind of cool to get something from overseas now, cause most the time I’m a large, and don’t feel like the incredible shrinking man like I do when buying North American clothes.
I would love to find a pair of 1985 Levi’s and compare them to today’s "same" model. I’m sure a pair of 501’s has got to be cut wider and looser these days. I can’t even imagine how a medium or large shirt from 50-60 years ago would compare today. Although I wasn’t thinking of it at the time, I’m sure I’ve heard older folks going through old clothes in the attic and saying, "Look how much this shirt has shrunk." Maybe it hadn’t shrunk, maybe it was only their perception because of how much size labeling has changed?
It’s no wonder so many North Americans (like 60%) are overweight. Instead of noticing that you don’t fit in a large T-shirt anymore, and that maybe you should slow down on the garbage, corporate America has simply made the T-shirt bigger so you can keep eating and most importantly CONSUMING and not thinking about your growing waist line.
If things keep going the way they are I’ll be wearing a size small before I’m dead and slightly smaller people at a healthy weight will be buying most of their clothes in the children’s section… On the other side, 350lbs men will be sporting "large" shirts, maybe some are now? What a joke.
I should add that I'm not a woman, and I've gotten a lot of email on this post from other sites I've posted it on saying it's quite the opposite with woman's clothing... I have no idea. I only get to live life as a guy.
posted by Geeper at 12:31 p.m.
1 Comments:
It's actually exactly the same for women. I am a normal-sized healthy woman with curvy hips who happens to be very short (5'1") and compact. I weigh about 103 pounds, which is well within the healthy range for my height. When I graduated high school 10 years ago, I wore a tight size 4. Now that I am 8 pounds heavier and have a thicker waste, I wear a 0 (two sizes down). Everything is too big due to vanity sizing. I do have to resort to the children's section sometimes because many stores only carry size 2 and up, and it really makes me mad!!!
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